


The Coach and the Gymnast

by agoldengalaxy



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Fluff, Love, Pillow Fights, Post-Super Dangan Ronpa 2, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:28:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29925855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agoldengalaxy/pseuds/agoldengalaxy
Summary: Akane never expected prince charming.
Relationships: Nidai Nekomaru/Owari Akane
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	The Coach and the Gymnast

**Author's Note:**

> these two deserve SO MUCH MORE love. idk what it is about them, but man. they're good
> 
> kudos/comments always appreciated!

“Hey, old man! No dirty tricks!”

“Me, playing dirty? I would never! A good coach never cheats.”

Narrowly dodging a pillow thrown toward her head, Akane stands up on the mattress, allowing her to be taller. She walks nimbly and quickly across the bed, and before he can process it, she latches onto Nekomaru’s back, arms around his neck and legs wrapped around his torso. She grins at his protests. “Hey. Betcha can’t get me off of ya.”

He sighs exasperatedly, resigning himself to his new fate. “I don’t wanna hurt you. Plus, it’s getting late. Athletes have to be well rested, you know.”

She sticks her tongue out at him. “You’re so boring.”

Starting to loosen her grip on him, he reaches up to hold her arm. She is about to tease him for being all soft, but all of a sudden, he bends down and she is flipped over his shoulder and onto the bed, staring wide-eyed up at the ceiling with his boisterous laugh filling her ears. “Ha! What did I tell ya?!”

Huffing, she flips onto her stomach and sits up on her knees, finding herself face to face with him. His smile lines crease around his eyes, adrenaline no doubt pumping through his veins. She has half a mind to punch his arm as hard as she can; but she knows he will mostly block her. And besides, she likes her second idea better.

“‘Be aware of my surroundings,’” she answers, scrunching her face up, moving to rest her outstretched arms on his shoulders, clasping her hands behind him. Her grin only widens as his begins to fade, pink creeping up onto his cheeks behind his sideburns. She stares into his eyes - blue, bright, so full of life. Leaning forward, rough lips connect with another pair of rough lips, only for a second. “You’re kinda cute when you’re embarrassed, Coach.”

He stutters in the way he wouldn’t be caught dead doing with anyone else, but Akane is special. She relishes that as she reaches to rough up his short-clipped hair. “Hey, stop that,” he whines, regaining his composure long enough to smile mischievously and launch forward, tackling her back onto the bed. She lets out a squeal of laughter as her head hits the pillow and he looms above her, fingers dancing across her torso with notorious speed.

“Nekomaru!” she gasps, giggling and squirming under his relentless tickling. “S-Stop! Stop, you win! You win!”

He stops, pulling his hands away from her with a triumphant smile. “You’ll get me next time,” he says smugly, in the way that he knows will fire her up.

“You bet your ass I will!” she huffs, but before she can sit up to continue their war, he leans down and kisses her again. She cups his face, and his hands are on the pillow on either side of her head. To Akane, it’s a little strange. How can he both fire her up and calm her down so easily? Perhaps she’ll never really know the answer to that question.

He pulls away, then takes her arms, supporting her back as he flips them both over. Her head rests on his strong chest, and his arm rippled with muscle tucks itself around her protectively. It’s not like she needs protection, but she certainly enjoys this feeling. Like she’s safe. Like nothing bad can ever happen again.

His heart beat is steady. He is warm.

Nekomaru reaches to turn off their lamp, bathing the room in darkness save for the stray beam of moonlight that streams across their bed. “Hey, Akane.”

“Yeah?” she asks, tracing circles on his torso. She isn’t very tired, but she knows better than to fight him about bedtime. They have training early in the morning, and he’s the coach, so he knows best. That doesn’t mean she can’t tease him about being an old man, though.

“I love you.”

Her heart flutters, stomach filling with raging butterflies as she grasps some of his shirt in her fist. No matter how long it would be, she doesn’t think she will ever get used to hearing those words directed at her. She smiles, pressing her face into his chest. “I love you too, ya big lug.”

She never expected prince charming. As a child, Akane didn’t play princess, she didn’t wait around for someone else to save her. No, she dirtied her knees and yelled and fought and took charge. She would have rather been the knight in shining armor or the dragon itself, and she didn’t let anyone tell her she had to be a princess. Because she isn’t. She’s too over-the-top, too dumb, too angry to be some kind of dainty royalty.

She was always told no one would love her because of these things that make her who she is. She was told she had to act more ladylike so she could be married.

Nekomaru isn’t a prince. He’s brash, loud, and he shouts profanities whenever he has the chance. But he’s also kind and proud, and as patient as a spring breeze. He loves Akane because of who she is. He doesn’t care that she is not ladylike, and he knows that Akane is no damsel in distress. They are not a princess and prince, they are not perfect. Fairy tales aren’t real, but she supposes this is the closest she’ll ever get to her happy ending.

And, as she listens to Nekomaru’s snores, she decides that it’s certainly one hell of a happy ending.


End file.
